Protect Her Future
by RayreeAnne
Summary: E.N.D and Gray are in the midst of their battle when familiar faces come around. The duo sees that Juvia is with Wendy and Carla. After Gray and Juvia are reunited, E.N.D. reveals that Lucy is dead… (Hiro Mashima owns Fairy Tail . Inspired by FT's Chapter 504.)


**Protect Her Future**

When their magic punches collide, E.N.D. and Gray fly apart due to the combustion. They slide along the ground and stay on their feet, ready to go at it again. The dust begins to settle.

"I'm stopping you, Natsu!" Gray shouts, taking a step forward. "Right here, right now!"

"Move, Gray," E.N.D. commands. "Gotta defeat Zeref."

Kill Zeref because Lucy is dead. She slipped through his fingers yet again, but this time, his Luce is gone forever.

Gray changes his stance, a fist in a palm as he prepares his next spell. Movement off to the side catches his attention and he glances over to see if it is an enemy. Then he freezes up from head to toe, eyes growing wide with disbelievement. He opens his mouth to speak, but words do not come out.

E.N.D. looks over as well, seeing three familiar faces making their way towards them.

With Carla walking alongside the duo, Wendy is helping Juvia along. All three of them have seen better days, but they are still going. After all, they are members of Fairy Tail.

Juvia's face lights up with a smile. "Gray-sama!"

"You can't be real…" He starts tearing up, arms limply falling to his sides. "I watched you die!"

She smiles sweetly at him. "It is me, my darling Gray-sama," she assures him.

"Carla had a premonition!" Wendy explains. "We arrived just in time to save Juvia!"

"And she's been fretting to see you the entire time," Carla harrumphs.

Forgetting the battle, Gray runs over to the trio. He needs even more confirmation that Juvia is real. His back is now towards E.N.D., but E.N.D. does nothing about it.

Juvia manages to take three steps away from Wendy to meet Gray in an embrace. He hugs her tightly, nearly sweeping her off of her feet. Then he holds her head gently in his hands, thumbs brushing along her skin. "Juvia…" Gray murmurs, his voice getting caught in his throat.

E.N.D. watches Gray and Juvia, feeling numb. He can never do that with Lucy. He can never laugh with her again. He can never see her smile again. He can never be with his best friend again.

Completely unaware that Natsu has awakened as E.N.D., Wendy speaks to him just like she normally would. "Natsu, are you all right? Where are the others? Is Lucy with you?"

His heart pangs him. "Luce… dead."

A silence falls over the others, each showing their reaction to the news as they look at E.N.D. Gray is shocked to his core, not being able to think the world can go on without Lucy in it. Carla feels numb to her bones. Wendy gasps, hands flying to cover her gaping mouth. Juvia's lips quiver as her body prepares to cry.

E.N.D. made a promise to himself that he would protect Lucy's future. He did not want to hold her dead body again in his arms like he did during the Grand Magic Games. She might have been a Lucy from the future, but she still had been Lucy. However, history repeated itself and he did. And now he needs to kill Zeref to avenge her death.

"She's dead," E.N.D. says, curling his hands into fists. The fire crackles off of his skin, threatening to turn anything to ash. "She's dead!"

"Carla, did you see anything about it?" Wendy asks.

She merely shakes her head, not a single word coming from her due to shock.

E.N.D. blinks as something wet leaks from his eyes. The heat coming from his body instantly evaporates the two trails. Then he steps towards his objective. He will defeat Zeref even if it is the last thing he does. After that, nothing else matters.

A small voice can be heard off in the distance. "Help! Somebody help!"

"Is that… ?" Carla begins.

The flames around E.N.D. subdue for the moment as he stops in his tracks, turning to face the familiar voice. "Happy… ?"

Sure enough, Happy is running with a little limp towards them as he comes over a mound. He is clearly battered up, not being strong enough to manifest is wings in order to fly. He is in a state of panic with teary eyes, paws still burned. His eyes grow wide with surprise when he sees familiar faces. When it comes to Natsu, he believes that he is looking at E.N.D. Since he is not sure if the others know or not, he keeps quiet about the matter. For now.

"Happy!" Juvia calls.

If possible, he runs even faster. As fast as his little legs can carry him. There is hope. There is hope that others can help him save Lucy! He will not have to do it alone now! "You guys!" Happy shouts.

"Happy, what's wrong?" Wendy asks. "How badly are you hurt?"

He does not want to waste time with Wendy healing him. He is fine for now. Other things are more important, like saving Lucy. "They took her! They took Lucy!"

E.N.D. remains rooted in place. Lucy. Somebody took her. But that cannot be. She is dead. He saw her with his own eyes… He held her in his own arms…

The other four all look at Happy. "Lucy is alive?" Juvia asks, sniffling back tears.

"But Natsu said that she's dead…" Gray comments, wondering just who to believe.

The fresh memories flash through E.N.D.'s mind. Dead. She must be dead. "I saw her dead!" he roars.

Happy shakes his head, knowing he needs to get through to his buddy. "No, she's alive! I was just with her before we were attacked!"

Something surges through E.N.D. Relief? Hope?

"Explain what happened," Carla instructs, feeling as though a back story will help fill in the blanks.

"Me and others found Lucy and some other girl. Lucy was okay, but the girl…" Happy's voice trails off and he skips to the next part. "So Lucy and I went looking for Natsu. Then we were attacked." An urgency rises in his voice. "Now they're taking her to Zeref!"

Zeref. Lucy going to Zeref. E.N.D. cannot allow that to happen.

"We'll stop Zeref and save Lucy," Gray says.

Save Lucy. Protect her future. That is what E.N.D. needs to do.

"We'll take on Zeref together and save Lucy together," Gray clarifies, looking at E.N.D.

He looks towards the castle where Zeref is. "Save Luce…"

* * *

 _A/N: So this happened… Yay for inspiration, right? I know for sure I ain't gonna continue this, but I still wanted to get it outta my system and post it XD And let's be honest, Happy is the real MVP…_


End file.
